Hyrule's Darkest Hour: Ganon's Rise
by Zelda Conspirators
Summary: Ganondorf near the end of his life creates a portal to escape his final prision. When the past comes to greet him, he realizes fate and time can be molded by a whim. Now througout history he rises to make his own destiny.
1. The Old Begins Anew

Time…

Time is one thing no one can control…

It ravages the body and mind without touch, and can shape the earth without force…

To control it is beyond any mortal man's abilities; his reach, his dreams…

Yet I am no mere man. In my age, I could control the earth, fire, water… the realm of the dead and the land of the living… I had strength first given by the divines and had it grow to the point even they would quake in fear before me! But then there was the one thing that always thwarted me. Time… Over and over as if the one unstoppable force cursed me for as long as I lived to be defeated by a single boy-a child with a sword! Each time I was slain, imprisoned, resurrected and returned to rule, the same green clad boy would return to slay me and repeat the cycle.

After a time to long ago I simply gave up the motives that plagued my mind and accepted my fate; sealed within the void of the sages' doing of another age to live among rubble as my final home. On it, I created my newest and grandest tower to live and keep my mind occupied from anything but the small existence I was forced to have. Eventually time once again cursed me to grow mad, to slaughter the few minions I was able to create in my new realm and yet, in a sense, I became bored with that in a hundred years. My mind calmed and eventually grew new insights, but an even greater rage and hate returned for the land I was destined to rule. More than ever I wanted to defy my fate and return, but the barrier that was in place became stronger with its age to the point I tried to leave my tower and wonder through its space to find that it all comes back to the same small rock I made my "home" upon.

The plague of defeat once again tore at me, but I became more determined to succeed. Maybe a part of me was still mad or had the radical will of my youth, but eventually I was able to get the most unstoppable force to at least bend to my will….

….

Among the dark corridors of stone built on hate and desperation walked a thin, aged figure who wheezed every few steps. Under a dirty ragged cloak and thinning silver white hairs was the once feared and powerful warlock, Ganondorf. As the thin figure entered his study, he made a small chuckle, one of the few comforts he had against the silence of everyday.

"After years too numerous to count, failure after failure, I think I finally created the one spell…"

The decrepit man lifted his right hand, drawing strength from the Triforce segment that dwelled within him to power the spell. Focusing on the point in the middle of the room, he pumped his energy into the one point and for the first time, felt much weaker after using a massive amount of magic. Once he was finished the singular point grew white hot to a dark shade of purple, and dropped to the ground, leaving what looked to be a black glass ball entwined in a thin layer of smoke.

Ganondorf picked up the object and with a moan of anger, placed it on a nearby table while he grabbed a book bound in a minion's leather skin- as he furiously wrote down his latest failure. "Again! I have yet to find a portal of my own to go through, each time I fail and I can feel the grip of absolute death with every passing day, as I drain my magical reserves on this failure project. I know I was absolute with this latest try! What went wrong…?"

Unable to write any more, his arm lashed out upon his equipment; sending it across the room while one happened to strike the ball- crashing it against a nearby wall. In an eruption of dark energy, the purple smoke scaled up to the point it was large enough for a man twice his height to go through. Ganondorf stared at it as images raced past its surface, with few familiar and others completely alien.

Grabbing his book, the man cautiously approached the portal as he placed his hand upon it. His hand went through as if the wall didn't exist behind it. As the portal began to shrink, Ganondorf worked his way through and before him was Hyrule Field, familiar and broken as if from a distant memory. "It…worked. IT WORKED! AH-HAHAHAHAHA!" However, the memory soon became realized.

Off in the distance of a grassy plain, he saw thunder erupt across the sky as a glowing yellow pyramid that surrounded a castle. Climbing upon it was some form of a black spider like creature that lifted its arm, to have it transform into a spear and crash through the light- which shattered like glass. Looking upon the scene jolted a memory, it was the day he died- slain by the boy named Link. Was it not for his soul that somehow molded into the Triforce of Power- which he held onto for almost as long as he had been alive- he would have perished with his mortal body.

The withered evil man raced as well as he could to the town gates to gain a better look. Was it really that time like so long ago? Every face he passed had the eerie similarities, the castle, and the events…

As for Ganondorf, he gave himself a thought. 'My power not only allowed me to break my prison, but to travel through time… but how is that possible? Was it because of the Triforce itself?' His thoughts where cut short as smoke enveloped his body and ended with himself back at his tower.

Ganon fell back through the portal as it completely closed; leaving him back in the cold tower he was exiled to. All he did for the next few minutes was stare at the wall, as if to make sense of what happened before he accepted the inevitable fact: "I went back in time… Like that so-called 'Hero of Time,' Link. Only this isn't permanent. What I need is more power. The only way to achieve that is to have something else with my power, something like… more of me." And with a laugh, a new plan formed within his mind.

"If I can control the past I can command the future. And if I can command the future… then my rule will be absolute!"

Quickly he sketched notes and ideas for his new portal- to see if he could control his destination in time, to determine if the force that pulled back was a fluke or some time travelling rule, and finally, to find out whatever else he could on the matter. After a month of trying and failing couple with an array of mishappenings (like landing in the middle of the Great Sea, Death Mountain, and awkwardly, the Gerudo changing rooms in a time which no one knew who he was- therefore, almost getting skewered with every weapon they had), he had finally created a means to focus to his destination.

In the core of his study, he raised his hand while focusing power and his strongest memories to the point that they had a misty form from the radiating magic. In a blast of his slowly decaying power, he created his portal. Swirling inside were pictures of himself transforming into the beast for the first time called Ganon- overlooking both Link in a ring of fire, and Zelda watching beyond. However, the blast knocked over various equipment containing items that were the results of failed testing. Without notice, and even a bit of eagerness, he stepped through just as a failed "portal" crystal ball rolled through too. In a flash of light in the otherwise spiralling, colourful vortex was a shockwave that sent him off away from his own destination to that of Hyrule, when Hyrule and the Dark Realm were more connected. It was the era when he began building the Dark Pyramid in symbol of his power over the location where Hyrule Castle once majestically stood.

"DAMN MY LUCK! This is not what I wanted…" He pulled up his arm to look over what went wrong- only to see no book within his grasp. Soon, he went into a frenzy to find it, tearing around the field to end up empty-handed.

The book ended up closer to his own destination than he had imagined...


	2. Enter the Dark World

In his madness, the Evil King spent almost an entire day tearing up the darkly verdant fields of Hyrule in search of his precious notebook. Finally, however, Ganondorf composed himself. It was by no means an easy thing to do, and no doubt the Ganondorf here would be curious as to why several of his minions were missing, or, if he looked on the field, the scorched imprints on the back side of the Dark Pyramid. Ganondorf hid himself in the foreboding fringes of the forest in this world and began to think.

Slowly, he relaxed himself, calming his mind and taking in the evil shades of green scenery- smoothing his thoughts until all that remained was an incomprehensible hum; a vague awareness of the involuntary processes within him, such as his now slow heartbeat and rhythmic breathing. The panic and fury he felt earlier in the day remained, albeit muted at the back of his mind. Though the result had taken quite a while to achieve, he could now think more calmly.

"Let's see... I think I saw one of the failures rolling through... Failure. Hmph. It certainly didn't fail to send me somewhere I didn't want to go..." he muttered, arms crossed tightly as he sat on a freshly-carved stump. He continued this grumbling with little to no heart for quite a while, before moving on. "Well, I might be stuck here, or I might get sucked back to the tower. But either way, there's a Ganondorf here, and he can preserve me from death with his own Triforce of Power."

Then a troubling thought struck him. What if the Triforce pieces could not exist in two places at once? Would one disappear, or transport one bearer sometime else? He risked his existence on this scheme...

But what if the Triforce of Power could be in several places at once? Then wouldn't the same rules also apply to the Triforces of Courage and Wisdom? Though Wisdom was Zelda's specialty, time and experience taught it as well. And even if it was simply experience, Ganondorf knew that no matter how many Ganondorfs he called together, the equal number of Links and Zeldas would very well defeat them. Unless the Ganondorfs became similar to a trio of Darknuts, the overall difficulty of felling such warriors increased more than just one-on-one. Ganondorf was dangerous; he knew that by how many times he had brought Hyrule to its knees. Such a mighty sorcerer could only compound the danger when multiplied by two, three, or ten.

But he was getting ahead of himself. He had yet to prove this latter theory would be the case. First he had to find the Ganondorf of the Dark Pyramid.  
Ganondorf stood up, and rather arrogantly fired a ball of dark magic into the sky, which erupted into noxious violet fumes above the trees. The squawking of minions brought a smirk to his face. Ganondorf, however decrepit, went to nobody. Others came to him.

By now, quite a number of Bokoblins, reinforced with two Iron Knuckles, had spotted him, and made their way over- the Bokoblins shrieking with anticipation and the Iron Knuckles plodding along as solidly as they always did. They came to a stop as the wizened old man on the tree stump stood up slowly, joints creaking and muscles groaning, to reveal their master Ganondorf, in all his power.

The trademark firm and malicious look of the Gerudo King never left Ganondorf's face. He was old, yes, and weak. He might not even be able to take on such flimsy enemies as these, if pressed to. But appearances could be deceiving, and generally Ganondorf fashioned his armies with less brain and more brawn.  
Maybe that itself was one of his shortcomings...

Ganondorf put the thought aside and took a deep breath. "Well," he bellowed. "Don't just stand there, you incompetent fools! Take me to your master!" A cloud of dark suddenly spread out behind the monsters. "I _am_ here, you _incompetent fool_, and I simply must know the name of the imbecile who dared to call me from my chambers! I, Lord Ganon, go to no man! Others come to-"

Ganon abruptly stopped his stormy speech as he strode up and stopped directly in front of Ganondorf. He gaped wordlessly. Ganondorf smirked again, and said wryly "My apologies, me, but you see, I am clearly older. And Kotake and Koume always told us to respect our elders."

Ganon frowned lightly at the words, but made no move to deny what his eyes were telling him. Unlike the fit of fury Old Ganondorf expected him to throw, Ganon simply narrowed his eyes and hissed, "What in the Goddesses' names is _this_?"

Suddenly, Old Ganondorf felt the telltale weakening of his body that warned him of his impending disappearance in smoke and subsequent transportation back to his lonely tower. So he held up his right fist for Ganon, so that the other might see the dimming Triforce of Power emblazoned there.

"I am you," he intoned, "from the future. And we have failed too many times to count. I have come to offer guidance, and a plan to take over Hyrule once and for all, past, present, and future."

Amber eyes stared into amber eyes. Ganondorf was Ganon, and if one couldn't trust themselves, who _could_ they trust? These men had the exact same memories, pasts, dreams, and desires, one with only more experience than the other. In that instant, an unbreakable bond passed between their eyes and Ganon smirked at his elderly counterpart and nodded so slightly; the sharpest-eyed of his minions would have never suspected he had moved.

"However," Old Ganondorf continued, "My Triforce is nearly depleted, and the spell I cast to come here will soon fail. Wait for me nearby, for I shall return as soon as I can."

"Of course," Ganon said smoothly, smiling coolly. The minions stared between the two Master Ganons with incomprehension and awe. Black smoke began to consume the wizened sorcerer who once had the entire world broken, writhing for mercy in the palms of his eternally unsatisfied hands. Already he could see the tower coming back into focus, and as he disappeared into the darkness. He then chuckled to himself, "Just a little longer, Ganondorf, just a little longer..."


	3. The Link of the Past

Meanwhile…

Link trekked through to the Pyramid of Power in hopes of destroying the newly resurrected Ganon and saving the world from the return of the evil. However, he was stopped short when he spotted the dark lord surrounded by various minions farther off in the nearby forest.

The oddest thing was he appeared to be waiting for someone. 'I guess I better not keep him…' But this thought was cut short once a pillar of black smoke arose from before the pig creature. The boy crouched down behind a nearby tree inspecting the situation, careful not to draw attention to himself so that he could listen to the conversation. Out from the portal was an old man- body frail but in his eyes, a lust and knowledge of power that seemed identical to Ganon. Link pressed his ears to listen as hard as he could as they began to talk.

…

Old Ganondorf walked through, clearly tired of this constant warping through time. Ganon stood arms crossed, impatient, despite himself. "What is it that you wish to tell me now? I have waited too long to be reborn, and that there are things to do."

Ganondorf nodded, "However there will be no time to enjoy your newfound freedom as Link would already be on his way."

"Link… You mean he's the same!" Ganon scratched his forehead and in anger punched a nearby tree over. "I thought he was simply a look alike, but also a carrier of the Triforce…"

Ganondorf cut in, "Which is why I bring a gift. The boy will come; there is no doubt about it." He leaned in and whispered "You cannot beat him in your current state, nor could I for hundreds of times before. However I believe the cycle can be broken, and it will start with you. Take this orb; it is the means of me being able to appear here. It should be able to be used to lead you to my tower at my time. He wants Hyrule back to normal, so _give it to him_."

"WHAT?"

Ganondorf's eyes burned. "Trust me. If it prevents any chance of following us now, it will help with the greater plan later."

"… Alright," Ganon finally agreed. It went against both of their natures, but he could sense the importance of it. "But what would happen later, if I followed you now?"

"You're worried that if you come with me now, it would make some sort of paradox? What about me standing before you? Time is not a sold thing, it can change and accommodate for this. Maybe even make an alternate reality, as I remember in my own past nothing of this myself. Something must be preserving us, and I will not investigate farther on the matter. Just do both of us a bit of good and break the orb before Link uses his unique arrows. Come through with whatever minions you can muster."

Ganondorf dropped to one knee when his body throbbed and smoke began to enwrap him. "One last thing before I leave. I lost a book bound in black leather that contains these secrets that has yet to return. Find it if it's here, or destroy it for I feel that if it wound up in the hands of that boy and Zelda-" And that was it.

Ganon looked at the orb in his hand and tucked it away in his tunic. "You heard the old man! Find the book, and then return it to me on top of my pyramid. Kill the boy in green, but know that that book is top priority!"

…

The minions grunted at each other in acknowledgment and quickly tripped over one another other in a hurry to look for this item. Link had to sneak away through bushes and tall grass to evade the patrollers as they searched. Ganon disappeared in his own portal to the pyramid in wait- in which Link decided it to be the best time to stop the pig's plan- whatever that was.

Within a few dashes between small groups and a quick kill for loaners, he made his way to base of Ganon's monument to power. However, monsters of every shape and size were already marching up the steps but he couldn't take them all on. A line had already formed and more creatures began to surround the structure.

Link sighed and figured that there was only one way up without being caught. He would have to climb it.

…

Ganon looked over the land without malice or anger; simply confusion over his presumed future self. "To come to the future, telling me I am to be defeated by a mere boy… Is that true? I was to end up like that? And to lose MY kingdom! The goddesses forsaken me to…" Then it truly dawned on him. "The goddesses need my failure, is it? For their own amusement."

As Link climbed out from over the edge of the platform, Ganon caught sight of him at the corner of his eyes.

"I was wondering when you would get here. I was told you were given powers stronger than my own, weapons blessed by the divines. That was to be my fate, to fall at your hands. To be a play thing, toyed by something that I could never know for amusement! That was my destiny! Well, it's time for that to change!"

Link quickly pulled out his bow and arrow and shot one that would of landed in the middle of Ganons head, but a Bokoblin jumped in its way at the last moment, while others from Cyclopes to skeletal soldiers closed the gap between the dark lord and young hero, who pulled out his blade and fought back as best he could.

"My fate changes WITH YOUR DEMISE!" Ganon laughed as the boy hacked and slashed away at the nearly never-ending flow of enemies. Not long afterward, one small Moblin pushed his way through the crowd shrieking with joy, "I FOUND BOOK! I FOUND BOOK!" hopping along and waving the slightly smoking text it in the air excitingly.

Link's head shot up. That book that the old man was so frightened to fall into the heroes' hands, presented before the dark lord as he gave a deep laugh. He knew that if he didn't stop Ganon now from getting it, he never could, so dropping his sword and shield, he jumped on and over the pile of monster bodies, and then onto the living's shoulders; pulling out two Silver Arrows. With a quick pull as Ganon bent down to retrieve the text, Link let them fly.

One pierced through the book, flinging it out from the creatures grasp. The Moblin shrieked as the book bounced down the side of the building- the creature bounded afterward. The other arrow hit Ganon in his arm, which was enough for him to roar out in pain as the holy weapon burned his wound. Quickly pulling it out, Link already reached for another round.

"NO! I will not allow you to end this battle, not like this!" With the power of the Triforce, he sent a blast of pure energy with his uninjured arm at the boy blowing him off from the top of the platform, and onto the edge. Link slowly climbed back up, but not before Ganon bellowed his message: "Link! No longer will I be shackled to your destiny! Today, I make my own!"

He pulled out the orb from his tunic and after raising it above his head, smashed it to the ground at his feet- sending a massive black column of energy into the heavens as dark clouds swirled around the many creatures walking through it. Dust and wind kept blowing into Link's eyes until finally he lost his grip and fell down the monument's side, and then into a nearby tree- knocking him out with a loud crack.

_"Link..."_

_"Wake up Link…"_

_"Please be alright…"_

The green-clad boy slowly awoken to be surrounded by seven maidens in Hyrule Castle's bed chambers- one of them being Zelda.

"Oh _Link_!" She said, throwing her arms around him. "You stopped Ganon and save Hyrule!"

Link just sat there, shaking his head and rubbing it, still feeling a bit fuzzy with his senses. "No Zelda," he said, "I might have saved Hyrule, but he escaped. I think this was all part of his plan."


End file.
